I guess you do not keep up with basic physics and propulsion methods. Which are currently outstripping the chemical rockets by a lot; to implement them just require political will and money, not time.
Then there was Project Orion in the 60s, killed in 64 by infighting and lack of political will, but would have had us in the entire solar system by now with the first returns from interstellar flights already happening.
The only place basic physics and new propulsion methods make a profit are in Hollywood, California.
If we are lucky, nuclear fusion generated electricity might reach FINANCIAL break even by 3024.